Amen Arthur, I know what you mean. I LOVE a nice laminated wood stock, with no flaws and a nice shiney gloss coating, and a great blued barrel.
To me, the looks of the rifle are important. Gotta look good for them deer
Bowhunting is by far my favorite style of hunting, but, just like Arthur, I get the urge to take my rifle out and touch a deer, too bad I havn't shot a deer in like 4 or 5 years with my rifle because I have already got my tags filled or I didn't see any bucks that I wanted to kill.